Match-stick.



P. T. DENMEAD.

' 1,054,680, Patented Mar.4, 1913.

` INVENTo-l-I- erry enmea,

'permit the melted paraiiin into which` the ITED STATES, PATENT @FiliCl-i; PRRY T; DEI MEAD, OF AKROl', OHIO, ASSINOR Til-THOMAS W. BOSS, CLEVELAND,

OHIO.

MATCH-STICK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Mar. a, 1913,

- Application filed February 4,. 1910. Serial No. 542,113.

T 0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it kno-Wn that I, PERRY T. DnNnEAD,

a citizen. of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Im.-

narily extending rearwardly from the head of the match.

4 This invention While fully capable of being employed in connection with matchsticks formed of soft Wood, is more partlcularly designed for use in connection with match-sticks formed from hard wood, the use of which has heretofore been commercially impracticable, by reason of the fact that they are not readily ignited by the flame generated by thelhead` even with the assistance of a coating of paraflin extending re: rwardly therefrom, and hence the use of hard wood has not been attended with satisfactory results.

In view of the fact that the forests of pine and other soft wood are being rapidly depleted, recourse must nony be had to hard wood to furnish the supply of match-sticks required, but as already stated, they do .not V ignite readily from'the head and when igniteddo not continue to burn so as to make `the same a practicable and useful article.

I have discovered that by scarifying the body of the stick, preferably by scoring, grooving or incising the same longitudinally of the stick and sufficiently deeply to match-stick is dipped to enter the fiber of the wood and to a certain extent imlfiregnatc the same, it assists perfect combustion of the stick and at the same time the scoring of the surface of the stick to a more or less extent exposes the berof the wood to the 4oxygen of the air, thereby serving to assist complete combustion of the match-stick.

My invention further contemplates impregnating only a portion of the matchstick with paraiin, so that when the tiame has reached the point where the paraflin impregnation ceases',.the burning of the matchstick ceases, thereby preventing the matchstick burning down `to the fingers.

lith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination-and arrangement of parts constituting the invention, to be hereinafter specically dcsarrilaedl and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variaytions and modifications can be resorted to which come within the scope of the claim I hereunto appended.

In the drawings, in which similar reference numerals indicate like parts in the different iigures Figure l is a perspective.

view, greatly enlarged, of a type of matchstick showing the scarilications thereon. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. i of a complete match; and, Fig. 3 is a view in transverse section on line X of Fig, Q.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral l. denotes a wooden match-stick preferably having two wide faces and two comparatively narrow sides, althrough the material of which it is cimiposed and its dimensions are all a matter of taste or Selection and may be altered or changed without. in any manner departing from the scope of this invention. The two wide faces'ot the match-stick are generally )Vn'eferably provided with scoringsr which may be produced by any suitable tool and in any preferred manner and of any length which experience has shown to be best for the purpose and for 'the materialemployed.

The 'scorings Q should be sufficient-ly deep to open up and expose a considerable portion of the fiber of the match-stick on the faces so treated and are preferably arranged closely together in order to cover as much of the .surface thereof as possible, the nature of the scorings being governed largely by the material employed and the size and thickness of the match. After being scored, the sticks are preferably partially immersed in a bath of melted paraiiin or coating 3 which adheres to the end of the match, and l 'preflio cease burning for want of proper material on which to feed. The paraffin is usually applied in a melted condition and extrelnel f method is sufficiently strong and rigid a suitable composition to produce an ig-l nitible head 5 in the ordinary manner well known in the art..

A 'match produced by the foregoing be readily ignited by frictional engagement with-anyordinary surface and after ignition the iame of the head is communicated to the paraffin impregnated wood Whose fiber is roughened and opened by the scorings on the surface thereof which causes it to be 'readily combustible and will under ordinary circumstances burn to the point 4 where'the coating' or impregnation of the paraffin terminates.

I am aware that heretofore, and before my invention, matches have been made in which the body-portion of the match has an irregular exterior surface. Such match bodies, however, are due to the particular.

arrangement of the cutting knives which are so disposed that the cutting eye of one knife overlaps the cut made by the eye of an adjacent knife, the knives being disposed in this manner to effect a saving of the Wood used. This results in a groove or grooves being produced throughout the lengthof'lthematch ody7 but it is to be noted that such match bodies have the exterior face all of the same nature, that is, comparatively smooth and compressed by theknife, or in other words, the exterior face ofthe match b ody is the same at all points throughout, there having been no opening up .or roughening of the surface subsequent to the passageof the knife thereover, by scoring the same in order to render 'the wood more combustible.`

I claim:

A match havingl a hardwood splint pro'-4 vided on substantially its entire surface with superficial longitudinal incisions such as to displace the Afiber of the wood without removal of the material.

In testimony whereof I have' hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Iwit- PERRY T. DENMEAD.

lVi tnessest E. HUMPHHEY, GLENARA Fox. 

